Cardinals boys soccer team victorious on Senior Night against Westhill to continue perfect season; GHS also tops Warde

By David Fierro on October 15, 2024 • ( Leave a comment )

**Photo by Rachael Stover:** Nathan Lapin of Greenwich (No. 16) in action during the Cardinals’ Senior Night game against Westhill at Cardinal Stadium, recently. The Cardinals posted a 4-0 win to remain undefeated.

The beat continues for the Greenwich High School boys soccer team.

The Cardinals beat two more opponents recently, keeping their unbeaten season going with only two games left in the regular season.

Greenwich celebrated its Senior Night on October 10th with a convincing 4-0 win over Westhill under the lights at Cardinal Stadium. They followed up that decisive victory with a 4-0 home triumph against Fairfield Warde today.

For the season, the Cardinals sport a record of 10-0-3 and are in first place in the FCIAC standings with 33 points. The top eight teams qualify for the FCIAC Tournament, which begins next week, so the Cardinals are in prime position to earn the No. 1 seed in the conference tourney. Greenwich is also atop the standings in the FCIAC West Division.

**Photo by Rachael Stover**: Eduardo Araujo of the Greenwich High School varsity boys soccer team gets ready to take a free kick during a game against Westhill High School at Cardinal Stadium. Greenwich won on its Senior Night, 4-0.

“You have these goals that you try to get to,” Greenwich coach Kurt Putnam said. “The first one is to qualify for the state tournament, the second one is to try to get into the FCIAC Tournament and the next one is can we get home seed in the FCIAC Tournament.”

In Greenwich’s Senior Night matchup against FCIAC foe Westhill, the hosts took a 1-0 lead in the 13th minute when senior Finn Hugh-Jones scored off a pass from senior Guilherme Rizzo. Effectively moving the ball, while applying pressure on the Vikings, the Cards extended their lead with 24:39 remaining in the first half.

Senior captain Matthew Maloney’s goal off a feed from senior Santiago Lattuada put GHS on top of Westhill, 2-0. Rizzo then tallied an unassisted goal in the 24th minute, upping the Cardinals’ advantage to 3-0.

**Photo by Rachael Stover**: Greenwich’s boys soccer team in action against Westhill High School. The Cardinals won, 4-0.

“It was nice to get every senior in that could play, I’ve got a few injuries,” Putnam noted. “To get 20 in there was nice. We kept the pressure up, we kept creating goal-scoring opportunities. The group that went out (to start the game) I said to them, it’s important to carry that responsibility and get out ahead in the game as quickly as we can. So, it can give the opportunity for their teammates to play. They did that.”

Thomas Tischler, a senior, also scored a Senior Night goal, tallying in the 53rd minute to cap the Cardinals’ scoring, making it 4-0. Senior goalie Miguel Leon and junior James Buck combined for the shutout win in goal.

Ranked third in the state in the CIAC Class LL rankings, Greenwich started the season with consecutive victories versus Fairfield Ludlowe, St. Joseph, Wilton, Bridgeport Central, Staples and Trumbull. They then played Danbury, Darien and Stamford to ties, then topped Ridgefield, Norwalk, Westhilll and Warde for their current 10-0-3 mark.

**Photo by Rachael Stover**: Greenwich High School’s varsity boys soccer team hosted Westhill on Senior Night and won, 4-0.

Greenwich has two regular season games remaining on its schedule. They will travel to Brien McMahon in Norwalk on Thursday and will host New Canaan Saturday.

“It would be nice to win the league (regular season title), win the Western Division and move on to the FCIAC and then the state tournament,” Putnam said. “You can only take one game at a time. We’re going to try to keep checking them off and see what happens.”